August 2008

August 31, 2008

Still shaking my head over the shocking season-opening loss by the Aggies on Saturday night. Emptying out the notebook of some leftover quotes from the upset:

Coach Mike Sherman
On kicker Richie Bean's misses from 32 and 25 yards
"Richie's been hitting those in practice. He's been very good and prepared well. He's made some big field goals in practice, and the second one wasn't a great snap or hold necessarily. And he's so accountable. He said, 'Coach, I still should have made it,' and he's right. But I wish I hadn't put that on him. I wish we had done a little better there and gotten touchdowns. We put it back on him, and he's got to make those field goals, but we put it back on him by not scoring right there."On the second-half struggles by the offense"We couldn't get anything going. We could never get into a rhythm. We ran the ball well in the first half. I thought we pass protected well in the first half. And I didn't feel like either one of those was good for us in the second half."On trying to prevent 0-1 from turning into 0-2"I've been in situations like this before, and I told our guys you can learn more about yourself from adversity than you even can from winning a football game. My biggest concern was there would be a deflation when we weren't executing very well. And I didn't feel like that. There was a sense of urgency in talking to the players. I felt that when they went out onto the field. I felt the frustration when they came off the field. There was no hang-dog attitude about it. So I think I learned something about them. And we'll learn more about them in the next couple of days with how they respond to this. This is the first ball game, and it was a tough one. It was a game that you would expect Texas A&M to win, and that's not taking anything away from Arkansas State. They did a phenomenal job, and I give them all the credit in the world, but we were home and we expected to beat them. But it didn't happen. I just think we have to get back to work and keep working and be better next week than we were this week."

Quarterback Stephen McGee
On the second-half struggles
"Little things just shot us in the foot. Third down and one, you know, we didn't get it. That comes down to 11 guys on offense just not taking care of the opportunity. We've got to make the little plays when they're there."On the missed scoring opportunities in the first half"There were too many mistakes and you can't win football games like that. We've got to improve offensively and overcome a bad play here or there. You need to be able to bounce back better than we did tonight. You can't get down about little things. We need to have a better mentality as an offensive unit, and that starts with me. I've got to lead those guys better out there."

Defensive coordinator Joe Kines
On ASU quarterback Corey Leonard
"They did exactly what they did last year, exactly what we practiced against. The youngster can make a play. He's got a lot of make-you-miss in him, and he made us do that a couple of times. We've got to tackle better. That's my fault. We were in position sometimes and through being over-anxious or whatever we missed the tackle. That's why you coach."

Running back Mike Goodson
On his fourth-quarter fumble
"I was just really trying to fight for extra yards. It was third-and-1, I think. I was trying to fight for extra yards. I've got to wrap the ball up. There's no excuse."

Linebacker Matt Featherston
On the problems ASU's offense presented
"They just did a good job of hitting the gaps. They came out and ran the ball hard. The quarterback ran the ball like we expected. For a minute we had them and then they got a couple of breaks which put them in scoring position."

Defensive end Michael Bennett
On ASU running back Reggie Arnold's strong game
"We schemed and had everyone slant the other way and then he got in the crease. He just did a good job running to it."

Public information officer Brenda Finkle of the Norman Regional Hospital confirmed Sunday night that Oklahoma reserve defensive end Frank Alexander had been treated and released for an unspecified reason as a local website reported he had been injured in a disturbance early Sunday morning and might miss Saturday’s upcoming game with Cincinnati.

OUInsider.com reported that Alexander had been stabbed or cut and might miss 5-7 days. The site also reported Alexander and a freshman basketball player had been fighting off attackers when the injury occured.

The Norman Police Dept. posted a notice on its website Sunday asking for information regarding a disturbance in Norman at 2:32 a.m. at which officers found evidence consistent with “numerous calls” reporting a fight involving knives, guns and tire irons. The notice also said that two stabbing victims had been treated at NRH and a third person had been hit by a car at the scene, but was released.

August 30, 2008

Baron Batch raced in from the 26 with 2:08 left as Texas Tech shakily left Jones AT&T Stadium with a 49-24 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday in its regular season opener.

Tech committed a school-record 18 penalties _ for 169 yards _ and did not look nearly as crisp as it normally does. The Red Raiders piled up 639 yards in total offense, with quarterback Graham Harrell completing 43 of 58 passes for 536 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Tailback Aaron Crawford bounced into the end zone from the 6 as Texas Tech padded its lead to 42-24 with 12:20 left in the game.

The Red Raiders could have tacked on some more points after Daniel Charbonnet intercepted a pass and returned it 17 yards to the Eastern Washington 26. But on fourth-and-10, freshman Donnie Carona had his 43-yard field goal blocked with 11:16 remaining in the game.

Eastern Washington keeps hanging around, and that has the crowd of 49,887 at Jones AT&T restless.

Eagle receiver Tony Davis caught a 30-yard TD with 21 seconds left in the third period to help Eastern Washington crawl within 35-24 of Texas Tech. The touchdown capped an 11-play, 77-yard drive by the visitors and nearly silenced the crowd.

After Texas A&M's Richie Bean missed his second short field goal of the game, this one from 25 yards, Arkansas State drove 80 yards on 10 plays to take the lead on a 15-yard pass from Corey Leonard to Kevin Jones. Leonard's pass was incomplete on the 2-point conversion attempt, leaving the Red Wolves up 15-14 with 4:39 to play.
-- Lori Dann

Texas Tech opened the second half with an impressive drive, moving from its 27 to the Eastern Washington 4. But on fourth-and-2 from the Eagle 4, quarterback Graham Harrell fumbled the snap, picked it up and could muster but one yard and Eastern Washington took over on downs.

But the Red Raiders eventually went ahead, 35-17, when Graham Harrell lofted a one-yard TD to Edward Britton with 4:51 to go in the third period.

Texas Tech opened the second half with an impressive drive, moving from its 27 to the Eastern Washington 4. But on fourth-and-2 from the Eagle 4, quarterback Graham Harrell fumbled the snap, picked it up and could muster but one yard and Eastern Washington took over on downs.

Texas just scored on its first drive of the third quarter, boosting its lead over Florida Atlantic to 35-10. Unlike last season, when the Longhorns zoned out in the second half after carving out a 21-3 lead against Arkansas State in the season opener, Texas seems to have plenty of fire and intensity in the second half tonight.

On FAU's first drive of the 3Q, the Longhorns stopped a QB sneak on fourth-and-inches for a loss of a half-yard. Texas is about to take over with a 25-point lead and a short field at its disposal.